a.k.a. kouzinovia – a greek word describing a female person who lives in the kitchen. Always.

Nutella-Oreo Chocolate Cupcakes

Ok, I cheated. I used my foolproof Nutella Cake recipe for this. I mean, why change something that’s already perfect right? I baked about 60 of these cupcakes for my son’s name-day give away treats. Then I baked 24 more…. They were disappearing fast.

There’s nothing to it really. First lay an Oreo cookie on the base of the cupcake cups. The purpose of the cookie is to keep the Nutella from slipping into the base of the cupcake and sticking on the paper. You don’t want that! It’s wasted Nutella. Then spoon a round teaspoon of Nutella on the Oreo cookie. Be generous. You want the Nutella. You NEED the Nutella. Then, top everything with the cake batter. That’s it. You are done. Once baked you will taste one of the most decadent, rich, chocolate cupcakes ever.

No need to frost this one, believe me.

Ingredients for the cake batter

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup boiling water

2 level Tbs Nutella

¼ cup whole milk, cold

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

250 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter (if you live in a country where butter comes in 227 gram packs, that’s fine)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

To complete the cupcakes

24 Oreo cookies

24 rounded teaspoons Nutella (see note)

Method

Preheat oven to 175 C. Line 2 x 12 hole cupcake pans with baking cups. Place one Oreo cookie on the base of each cupcake. Spoon a rounded teaspoon of Nutella on top. Set aside.

In a small bowl mix the cocoa with the boiling water and stir until smooth. Mix in the Nutella and milk. Leave to cool slightly.

In a bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with the flat beater until creamy and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture into the mixer bowl. Add the Nutella-cocoa mixture. Beat until smooth. Lower the speed of your mixer and add the remaining flour. Mix on medium-low speed until batter is smooth.

Fill the cupcake cases with about ¼ cup of the cake batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature if you can resist that long. 5 minutes is my maximum resistance record. Ok, maybe 4.

Note: You will need one 400gr Nutella jar for this recipe, but when buying Nutella, go for the biggest jar!